Before Pelé was six years old, he’d never encountered an actual ball. “We used socks stuffed with papers or a grapefruit. It was a different time,” he revealed in an interview with Four Four Two. With the help of a player named Sosa, who was in his father’s local team, Pelé laid his hands on a real ball. It was love at the first kick.
When he was ten, Pelé watched his father, João Ramos do Nascimento (popularly christened Dondinho), cry for the first time because Brazil had lost to Uruguay in the World Cup final. “I said ‘Father, don’t cry. I’m going to win the World Cup for you, don’t cry,'” disclosed Pelé in a conversation with RT. Asked who his favorite player was by CNN, Pelé didn’t flinch. “My father.” He declared. “My father was my teacher.” Their bond was special, nurtured deeply by a common love for the game.
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By the time he was in his early teens, Pelé’s magic flair was undeniable. “People started to say, ‘Oh, the son of Dondinho is a good player’ not ‘Pele is a good player,'” he told Four Four Two. Of course, he delivered his World Cup promise eight years later, and as he gave away in his chat with RT, the first thing he did was to call his father. “Did you see? we won!,” an excited Pelé exclaimed.
